Google's Android and Apple's iOS operating systems account for 98pc of the
smartphone market, as BlackBerry and Windows systems lag ever further behind

Mobile operating systems iOS and Android account for a combined 98pc of the smartphone market as BlackBerry and Windows struggle to compete, a new report has found.

The two operating systems have reached an all-time-high as rival systems struggle to make their presence felt in the market, a report by Gartner found.

The impending release of Windows 10 for smartphones was not enough to convince consumers to stick with the brand, the report found, after the brand’s market share fell from 3pc in the third financial quarter of 2014 to 1.7pc in the same period this year.

During this time, around 5,874,000 units running Windows were sold, compared to 977,000 running BlackBerry, according to research from Gartner. The recently-announced BlackBerry Priv is the first BlackBerry handset to run Google’s Android operating system.

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Comparatively, Google’s Android system, which runs on handsets manufactured by HTC, LG and Samsung, sold 298,797,000 units during the third quarter of the year. Apple’s iOS-running iPhones sold 46,062,000 units during the same time, the report found.

Gartner research director Anshul Gupta attributes the lack of interest within developer and manufacturers for building for Windows due to the lack of size of devices from manufacturers and the considerable effort involved.

“We haven’t seen many larger device manufacturers building for Windows; there is little interest from vendors, while another challenge is the small install base; with lack of app developers for the windows ecosystem, gathering user feedback and driving updates and constantly refreshing it. It requires significant investment, and not all developers are inclined,” he added.

As far as BlackBerry’s shift to Android is concerned, it’s too late, he says. “The main problem with the BlackBerry ecosystem is that it couldn’t evolve as fast as the others, and subsequently there wasn’t as much interest from consumers.

‘We don’t see BlackBerry’s adoption of Android as bringing any massive advantage; we think it’s too late now,” he added. “If you’re targeting the enterprise marking, the rise of people bringing their own devices to connect to enterprise systems means you’re going to lose out - it’s all about the consumer market."

Behind Samsung and Apple, Chinese brand Huawei made significant market share gains during the third quarter, the report found, shipping some 27,262,300 units compared to 15,935,000 the previous year - a rise of some 7.7pc.

“Huawei has really matured as a global player, offering a good balance between their home and international markets, while becoming brands that are clearly appreciated by consumers, Gupta added. “Huawei is a much bigger player in terms of their portfolio compared to Xiaomi, which shipped 17,197,200 comparatively."